https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/section-350-structures-styles-and-sonnetation For detailed discussions of specific poetic forms and workshop advice. en 2005-2012 shakespearesmonekys@gmail.com 42.65593 -71.33391 Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:50:06 GMT yacs http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 70 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4823-meter-for-dummies https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4823-meter-for-dummies Can we work on meter? Because frankly, I suck at it. There has to be some tid-bit someone can offer to make meter a little less like pulling my hair out one by one. I have written from the time I got up this morning until now (dinner time) and have not been able to come up with even one line that had anything close to meter. I blame it on the fact that I am a tone deaf hick and do not speak with the stress on the appropriate syllables. I really want to become better at this. PLEASE…help me. ... more Someday In May Structures, Styles and Sonnetation Sun, 21 Sep 2008 23:18:11 GMT /section-350-structures-styles-and-sonnetation#comments 31 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/4823 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/4823 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A4823 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-8116-specular https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-8116-specular This form was invented by poet Julia Copus and, as the name implies, revolves around a reflective quality anstey Structures, Styles and Sonnetation Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:24:40 GMT /section-350-structures-styles-and-sonnetation#comments 0 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/8116 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/8116 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A8116 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4729-triolet https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4729-triolet I have often wanted to write triolets, and I think I remember the rhyme scheme       A  - First rhyme       B  - Second rhyme       a   -  Rhymes with 1st line.       A  - Identical to 1st line.         a   -  Rhymes with 1st line.       b  -  Rhymes with 2nd line.       A  - Identical to 1st line.       B  - Identical to 2nd line.   Is that correct? But I don't remember if there is a syllable requirement ? Laurie Structures, Styles and Sonnetation Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:24:40 GMT /section-350-structures-styles-and-sonnetation#comments 4 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/4729 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/4729 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A4729 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4614-suggestions https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4614-suggestions Have you seen a form that you want explained more clearly?  Any questions about writing with forms?  Any ideas on what to try next?  Here's the spot to put them.  Leanne Structures, Styles and Sonnetation Fri, 19 Sep 2008 02:01:53 GMT /section-350-structures-styles-and-sonnetation#comments 17 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/4614 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/4614 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A4614 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-7162-tetractys-a-poetry-form-invented-in-1999-by-one-of-the-harlow-poets https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-7162-tetractys-a-poetry-form-invented-in-1999-by-one-of-the-harlow-poets If you liked playing with Rictameter and the Fib then you may well like Tetractys too Pags Structures, Styles and Sonnetation Sat, 17 May 2008 21:09:37 GMT /section-350-structures-styles-and-sonnetation#comments 4 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/7162 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/7162 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A7162 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-5751-madrigal-english-or-chaucerian https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-5751-madrigal-english-or-chaucerian The Madrigal is a repeating form, written in iambic pentameter (the "natural" meter of English, apparently) -- the scheme goes like this: A (first repeater) B1 (second repeater) B2 (third repeater) a b A (first repeater) B1 (second repeater) a b b A (first repeater) B1 (second repeater) B2 (third repeater)     Mourning the Lilly Maid Why should I leave such thoughts? I am of Earth The Lilly Maiden's sighs were oft misread She could have saved his soul, but now she's dead Her tender heart, ill-fated passion's berth For Lancelot, who would betray instead Why should I leave such thoughts? I am of Earth The Lilly Maiden's sighs were oft misread ... more Leanne Structures, Styles and Sonnetation Sat, 29 Mar 2008 21:10:47 GMT /section-350-structures-styles-and-sonnetation#comments 5 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/5751 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/5751 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A5751 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-5752-sapphic-ode https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-5752-sapphic-ode The Sapphic Ode is one of the more difficult metric forms -- the good news is that it doesn't rhyme.  There's also quite often enjambment (run-on sentences) between the stanzas, ie the last line of one stanza is continued in the first line of the next stanza (not always, it's just a common device).  It's made up of four-line stanzas, the first three lines are 11 syllables long and the fourth is 5 syllables -- but here's where it gets a bit trickier.  The meter has to be like this:   Trochee trochee dactyl trochee trochee Trochee trochee dactyl trochee trochee Trochee trochee dactyl trochee trochee Dactyl trochee   ... more Leanne Structures, Styles and Sonnetation Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:47:30 GMT /section-350-structures-styles-and-sonnetation#comments 9 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/5752 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/5752 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A5752 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-7441-blues-stanza https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-7441-blues-stanza Blues Stanza:  I've found sources that say the blues stanza is either written in loose iambic pentameter measures or loose iambic tetrameter, but schematic diagram is usually the same.  The second line is often an incremental repeton of the first line, while the third line is a synthetic parallel giving a consequence of the first two lines.  Each stanza is a triplet and the last stanza ends with a couplet. Diagram: xX xX xX xX xA or xX xX xX xX xX xX xX xX xA xX xX xX xX xa (still an iamb at the end) ... more Ryan Wilbur Structures, Styles and Sonnetation Mon, 11 Feb 2008 22:21:54 GMT /section-350-structures-styles-and-sonnetation#comments 0 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/7441 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/7441 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A7441 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-7251-glose https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-7251-glose Spanish and Portuguese in origin.  Usually accentual-syllabic.  Can be written in any prosody or line-length, though each line is usually of a single length.  "Glose" means gloss, a "commentary" upon something; in this case, upon quoted lines that appear as headnote or epigraph at the beinning of the poem.  This epigraph is called the texte; each line of the texte becomes a repeton, a refrain that pepars just one other time int the body of the poem.  The fist line of the texte finishes stanza one, the second line, stanza two, and so on unil the texte is exhausted and the poems to an end. ... more Ryan Wilbur Structures, Styles and Sonnetation Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:13:12 GMT /section-350-structures-styles-and-sonnetation#comments 3 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/7251 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/7251 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A7251 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-7249-descort https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-7249-descort A French form requiring that each line of the poem to be different from every other line in all ways.  It has no fixed length.  It often mixes meters or syllable counts to create a discord. Descort means a 'quarrel' or 'discord'.  It was also used by troubadors as a song of disagreement, which is emphasised by unusual metric structures and if there is a rhyme it's irregular. Here is another definition from Poetrybase/Poetry Gnosis: Descort is French for "discord", and the form is almost more of a non-form. It requires that each stanza or verse have some similar lyrical elements; however, that they be totally different forms. Each stanza should be verse, that is, a structured portion of poetry, but not the same. They can conform to known verse structures or be nonce forms. Some descorts have even used different languages in different stanzas. ... more Ryan Wilbur Structures, Styles and Sonnetation Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:11:41 GMT /section-350-structures-styles-and-sonnetation#comments 1 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/7249 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/7249 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A7249 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-7250-pregunta https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-7250-pregunta Spanish in origin, the form is a debat where one poet asks a questions (requesta) or series of questions, and the another poet gives the reply (respuesta) or series of replies.  A single poet can pen; in other words it's not completely necessary for there to be two writers.  Upon Love, by Way of Question and Answer I bring ye love, Quest.  What will love do? Ans. Like and dislike ye; I bring ye love, Quest.  What will love do? Ans. Stroke ye to strike ye; I bring ye love, Quest.  What will love do? ... more Ryan Wilbur Structures, Styles and Sonnetation Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:30:31 GMT /section-350-structures-styles-and-sonnetation#comments 2 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/7250 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/7250 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A7250 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4615-ballade https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4615-ballade This is one of my favourite forms, but it does take quite a lot of work because you've only got limited rhymes -- on the up side, one of those rhymes is partly taken care of by a refrain.  The ballade is a French form which was originally intended for singing so it should be lyrical.  There are a few variants but the most common is three stanzas of eight lines each plus an envoi or summary stanza of four lines.  The last line of each stanza is the refrain.  There are no specific meter requirements but in English it's best to keep it to a regular meter (the French think they're language isn't accented but they're French, what do they know?)  Lines are usually either 8 or 10 syllables throughout.  ... more Leanne Structures, Styles and Sonnetation Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:06:27 GMT /section-350-structures-styles-and-sonnetation#comments 5 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/4615 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/4615 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A4615 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-6999-rictameter-form https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-6999-rictameter-form A new, 20th century form sparked by 'The dead poets society' Pags Structures, Styles and Sonnetation Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:40:30 GMT /section-350-structures-styles-and-sonnetation#comments 8 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/6999 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/6999 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A6999 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4606-abcedarian https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4606-abcedarian Since it starts with A Leanne Structures, Styles and Sonnetation Tue, 13 Nov 2007 03:02:08 GMT /section-350-structures-styles-and-sonnetation#comments 11 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/4606 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/4606 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A4606 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-5268-terza-rima https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-5268-terza-rima Another interlocking rhyme for the masochists Leanne Structures, Styles and Sonnetation Wed, 11 Jul 2007 21:33:45 GMT /section-350-structures-styles-and-sonnetation#comments 3 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/5268 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/5268 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A5268 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4613-connachlonn https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4613-connachlonn Since Tracey likes 'em Leanne Structures, Styles and Sonnetation Tue, 03 Jul 2007 18:01:20 GMT /section-350-structures-styles-and-sonnetation#comments 3 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/4613 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/4613 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A4613 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-5025-rispetto https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-5025-rispetto I'm looking for information on this Italian Form deadpoetsmilk Structures, Styles and Sonnetation Mon, 25 Jun 2007 07:32:12 GMT /section-350-structures-styles-and-sonnetation#comments 3 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/5025 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/5025 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A5025 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4756-rondeau https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4756-rondeau The rondeau is a wonderful lyric form -- French, obviously, and created during those romantic years when minstrels sighed over anything in skirts. Like most French forms, it has no specific metric requirements but when you're writing in English it makes it hard on the ear if you don't use some kind of regular meter. It is three stanzas of 5, 4 and 6 lines respectively. The lines are either all 8 or all 10 syllables long, except for the last line in the second and third stanzas, which is called the rentrement or "re-entry" and is a repetition of the first word or phrase in the first line of the poem. ... more Leanne Structures, Styles and Sonnetation Sat, 23 Jun 2007 22:41:40 GMT /section-350-structures-styles-and-sonnetation#comments 10 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/4756 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/4756 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A4756 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4836-villanelle https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4836-villanelle I am trying out a Villanelle Laurie Structures, Styles and Sonnetation Sat, 16 Jun 2007 20:55:41 GMT /section-350-structures-styles-and-sonnetation#comments 9 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/4836 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/4836 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A4836 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4652-clogyrnach https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4652-clogyrnach You might have noticed I'm putting a lot of my favourite forms up here first   I love these things. The clogyrnach is a Welsh six-line stanza form -- it can either be a single stanza poem or you can join them together to make something much longer.   There are only two rhymes per stanza (though if you're making a longer poem, you can change rhymes as long as it's the same pattern).  The lines have a syllable count of 8-8-5-5-3-3, and the rhyme scheme is a-a-b-b-b-a -- technically, it looks like this:   x x x x x x a ... more Leanne Structures, Styles and Sonnetation Wed, 06 Jun 2007 19:56:58 GMT /section-350-structures-styles-and-sonnetation#comments 5 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/4652 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/4652 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A4652